ONE has a heavenly body. One IS a heavenly body. But according to a new survey, most British children couldn't identify the picture on the left as the moon. But they could identify the other as David Beckham.

Researchers working for a British toy company say that these days, British school kids are far more likely to be able to identify a celebrity star than a real one. Or, indeed, a planet.

Which means they could probably identify Amy Winehouse before the North Star, and Wayne Rooney before they could identify Saturn. According to the survey, 44 per cent of British children couldn't identify Saturn, despite its famous rings, 57 per cent could identify a picture of Mars, the red planet (which 35 per cent thought was blue) and 39 per cent of kids said they thought Mars was a type of chocolate.

Two thirds of the children were unable to answer how many planets there were in the solar system and only 60 per cent could place the planets in the right order. A third also claimed they didn't know that Earth WAS an official planet.

Most surprising of all was the news that while 30 per cent claimed to believe that Winston Churchill was the name of the first man who walked on the moon, 72 per cent of children apparently couldn't even identify earth's nearest neighbour.

But the Sir Patrick Moore brigade should not despair because 73 per cent of the 1,400 children who took part in the research said they'd like to know more about astronomy, although only 15 per cent believed their parents had sufficient knowledge to help them learn about the night sky.

Mark Gaston, who runs the Celestial Skies gallery and astronomical suppliers in Bournemouth's Commercial Road, believes children are always fascinated by the stars and the planets. But only if they are introduced to them in the right way.

"Astronomy is looked upon as a rather geeky, uncool subject by children," he says. "But if you can just get them interested, looking through a telescope or even some binoculars they are usually enthralled."

Mark says that Saturn, "definitely one of the best objects in the sky", never fails to impress the youngsters who have seen it. "They often ask me if it's really real," he says. "To the naked eye it's an orange star. But with a telescope they find it beautiful and fascinating."

He says that parents can help by encouraging their child to look up at the moon and then to use binoculars to study the night sky. "The quality of telescopes today are so good for such a low price that even with our cheaper models you find people are amazed at what they can see."

Everything from the "star nursery" on the constellation of Orion ("You can see the clouds of gas that go to form stars") to close-ups of the moon is available for under £200 he says. "One of the big problems used to be finding what you were looking at. But with the computer-aided models that's all taken care of," he says.

He acknowledges that star-gazing can be a cold, lonely business. "Especially in winter." However: "We often hold star barbecue parties in the summer when it's a clear sky, the kids can stay up late and we get them looking through binoculars or telescopes and they are thrilled with what they can see. Getting them to want to do it is definitely a good start."